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Towing temps

L

lugnut

1/2 ton status
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Location
North Carolina
On a hot day running solo my dually runs about 210 - 215 ( stock 454 , 195 deg thermostat , cleaned out rad. , prety new water pump , aux trans + oil cooler and electric fan). With my camper in tow ( 7500 - 8000 lbs ) runing 70 - 75 mph it runs 230 - 240 to close to the red zone for comfort. If I slow down to 60 - 65 it runs 210 - 215 all day long. It has always done this and I havent found anthing to help it run cooler. Do they all do this ? The temp sender is in the head.
 
Do you still run the mech fan? If you run electric only I'm surprised you don't run hotter under load.
 
If you have a mechanical fan, you may want to check or just replace the fan clutch. It is most likely worn out and not engaging like its supposed to.

Also, what's you Coolant to water mix ratio? Make sure its 50/50 or 40/60. More coolant than water is not nescessarily a good thing in this case. Pure water transfers heat much better than coolant. The coolant is there to up the boilover point and lower the freeze point. I know my truck cools much better with pure water and about 10% coolant to keep deposits from forming. You may also want to add a product called "Water Wetter" to the coolant. It helps.

Also, make sure your radiator cap is good. 15-16psi cap is recommended.

John
 
"Redline Water Wetter". I've used it, it works. I get it at Pep Boys, it's about $8.

If you decide to use it, flush out your cooling system first so you're starting fresh. I prefer to mix the Water Wetter, in the proper ratio (I believe it's 4oz per gallon, but check the bottle), into the gallon jugs of 50/50 antifreeze/water BEFORE I pour them into the radiator; this way I know I'm not exceeding the proper mix ratio.
Apparently there's some folks that have had some bad experiences with silt buildup and mineral deposits in their cooling systems after using Water Wetter. I haven't have this problem in any vehicle I've used it in (currently 4). My belief is that these folks may have been the "more MUST be better" types who can't seem to follow directions, and added far more Water Wetter than the directions indicate...
Small downside: In my experience, you'll need to drain off at least half of your cooling system's capacity before winter and refill with regular 50/50 mix. The Water Wetter WILL cause the radiator to overcool, and it'll never warm up properly in cold weather (which means no heater - ask me how I found this out...)
 
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Small downside: In my experience, you'll need to drain off at least half of your cooling system's capacity before winter and refill with regular 50/50 mix. The Water Wetter WILL cause the radiator to overcool, and it'll never warm up properly in cold weather (which means no heater - ask me how I found this out...)

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Never had that problem, but I'm not saying it cant happen. I am surprised though, b/c the thermostat should regulate the temps. But /forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif /forums/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

John
 
I still run the mech fan its a flex fan so no clutch. Ive replaced the cap and the coolant is 50/50. I have seen the Water Wetter but have never used it maybe I'll give it a try.
 
Flex fan is half the problem, at highway speeds flex fans don't pull air through the radiator like a stock fan.....

CR
 
I'll try the fan I got one hanging on the wall from my sub. Flex fan was on the truck when I got so I left on. I figgered it would move more air than the stock one.
 
Nope, and airflow is VERY important to good cooling when towing. A regular fan pulls MORE air as the engine gets hotter and as you get on it more (more RPM) where a flex fan is the total opposite. On the highway it's going to flatten out and you'll get basically no help at all from it.

A 7 blade stock type airplane propeller with clutch works flawlessly, and will pull TONS of air. I've NEVER had a cooling issue.
 
Well, the overcooling issue was an all-aluminum 4-holer (block, head, radiator, and transaxle) in a '93 Plymouth Laser. Heater wouldn't get hot, just lukewarm. Temp gauge wouldn't even get to the bottom of the marked normal range (just a C and H with a couple tick marks for the range - not real good but better than just an idiot light). I honestly think the all-aluminum motor & transaxle bellhousing acted as a big heatsink and the 'stat (195deg) never got to open.
 
Put a stock fan on today. Still running 210 - 215 normal driving AC on. I'll find out next Friday how well it cools while towing.
 
My 454 TH400 88 Burb does the same. 454's do not like turning 3k. They get hot and in a hurry. Now that temps are hitting 90 my burb is hitting 210 with the A/C on and pushing 2800-3000 RPM EMPTY.

Now I chased some cooling issues last year and it ended up being problems with the radiator mostly. Not only was it internally clogging up it was packed full of bugs despite rinses with the garden hose. Seems the fin spaceing on the A/C is wider then the radiator.

I also swapped the fan clutch.

Now I towed a truck 100 miles and found if I keept the RPM to around 2500 it was happy and ran about 190 all day long. Tranny runs about 180 and the oil temps is around 210. I start getting closer to 3k and it starts running hot.
 
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... With my camper in tow ( 7500 - 8000 lbs ) runing 70 - 75 mph it runs 230 - 240 to close to the red zone for comfort. If I slow down to 60 - 65 it runs 210 - 215 all day long...

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Well you got your answers as far as mechanical.
How about you stay at the legal speed limits when in tow, you can keep your engine cooler.
Speed limit is 55 for towing right?
/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif
I usually stay at the 55-60 because of that reason, but now I am appreciating that fact because I feel safer at these speeds.
/forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif
 
Not in NC the speed limit is the same towing or empty 65 to 70 MPH on most of the intersate. As for the safe feeling I made one trip pulling this camper with my Sub. /forums/images/graemlins/eek.gif I told my wife when we get home I'm getting a bigger truck. With the dualy it drives as good with the camper in tow as it does empty ( rides better with the camper )
 
Well the trip to the beach was not fun I couldnt run over 60 MPH for long and no AC. When I got to the beach I put a new clutch on the fan and hoped for a better trip home. Came home yesterday and I was a happy camper ran the AC on max 75 mph temps stayed below 220.
 
Why do you need a bigger truck? I dunno how big your camper is though. Burb should do just fine for anything under 7500k....

Glad to hear the fan fixed all your problems!
 
A 34 foot long box blocks a lot of air. We were going to the beach on the first trip with this camper when a box truck passed us. The bow wave from that truck sent us for one hack of a ride. I took all of 2 lanes and some of the grass to get it back together. ( i was running weight dist. bars + sway bars ). So what was a two hand white knuckle ride with the sub. is a one handed Sunday drive with the dually.
 
After reading this post, I decided to try the Water Wetter. Due to financial reasons, and that the junkyard only had a small radiator, I am not running the larger one my Sub came with. Normally it's fine, but any sort of load up a hill would make the temp gauge rise. Not enough to overheat, though. I had to tow a car yesterday, so I figured I'd try this stuff to see if it would help out. It worked great! Not a lot of rise in temps, and it was about 85+ yesterday. Trailer weight was about 4000 Lbs., and my AC is not currently working, so I couldn't run it to see if it would make a difference in temps.

I'm now running 15% coolant, 85% water, with the full bottle of water wetter added, per their instructions. Works great!
 
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